Hōjutsu
Hōjutsu / Teppojutsu, the art of gunnery, is the martial art of Japan dedicated to Japanese black powder firearm usage.
Hōjutsu is still practiced today, often with antique matchlock firearms such as the tanegashima. The martial art is most common in Japan where access to historical equipment is easier for practitioners. Groups such as the Matsumoto Castle Gun Corps maintain large collections of Edo era firearms.
Schools
As with many Japanese martial arts, hōjutsu incorporates different styles of practice and traditional techniques. These styles of shooting also have differing focuses as well as unique histories. Some of the most well known schools are:- Buei-ryū
Era: Early Edo, between 1638-1696
Place of Origin: Takeno, Tajima Province
Parent School: Tanegashima-ryu
- Fujioka-ryū
Era: Keicho
Place of Origin: Okayama, Bizen
Parent School: Inatomi-ryu
- Inatomi-ryū
Era: Keicho
Place of Origin: Tanabe, Tanba Province
Parent School: Tanegashima-ryu
- Inoue-ryū/Geki-ryū /
Era: Keicho
Place of Origin: Harima Province
Parent School: Ise-no-Kami-ryu
- Ise-no-Kami-ryū
Era: Eiroku Era 2nd year - Kan'ei 5th year
Place of Origin: Saiki, Bungo Province
Parent School: Tsuda-ryu
- Jiyusai-ryū
Era: Eiroku
Place of Origin: Negoro-ji, Kii Province
Parent School: Tsuda-ryu
- Tabuse-ryū
Era: Genki or Tensho Era
Place of Origin: Kawachi Province
Parent School: Jiyusai Ryu
- Kasumi-ryū
Era: Keicho
Place of Origin: Yonezawa, Dewa
Parent School: Tanegashima-ryu
- Morishige-ryū
Era: Kansei
Place of Origin: Suetake Village, Suo Province
Parent School: Nakajima-ryu and Yasumori-ryu
- Nakajima-ryū
Era: Early 18th Century
Place of Origin: Unknown
Parent School: Buei-ryu, Jitoku-ryu and Sasaki-ryu
- Ogino-ryū
Era: Mid-17th Century
Place of Origin: Unknown
Parent School: Tanegashima-ryu, plus 12 other schools including Masaki-ryu
- Takashima-ryū
Place of Origin: Nagasaki, Hizen Province
Parent School: Dutch/European derived gunnery.
Era: Jōō Era
- Tsuda-ryu
Era: 1544
Place of Origin: Negoro-ji, Kii Province
Parent School: Tanegashima-ryu
Additional schools, or styles of shooting include:
- Namban-ryū
- Seki-ryū
- Tanegashima-ryū
- Tazuke-ryū
- ''Yō-ryū''
Gun groups
Gun groups were known as teppo tai. Teppo meaning "gun" and tai meaning "group", or "unit".Recently the general media has come to view the samurai as warriors who were armed only with close combat weapons such as the katana. However, the Japanese were arguably using guns more effectively than their European counterparts by the sixteenth century, as well as producing more accurate, durable varieties.
The Battle of Nagashino, where guns were deployed against samurai cavalry, is one of the most famous and influential battles in the history of the samurai.